Many modern network systems are built on the combined functionality of multiple applications. The applications may be standalone, discrete programs, or may take the form of microservices, which are applications dedicated to performing a specific task. For example, to support a social media hosting website, applications may perform tasks such as media upload and download, behavioral tracking, advertising, payments and e-commerce, privacy controls, integrated widgets and plugins, and many more. Similarly, each of these functions may have several applications or microservices dedicated to performing individual sub-functions.
In order for a collection of applications to communicate with each other in the performance of an overall function or service, the applications often need to communicate with each other. To communicate securely, applications often must authenticate one another. For example, authentication may involve one application providing an agreed upon secret (e.g., symmetric or asymmetric encryption key, password, token, etc.) to another application, which can then be validated. Ideally, each application should have its own unique secret, so that authentication may be performed on an application-specific basis.
In large systems composed of many individual applications, it becomes difficult to manage and distribute secrets across each application. This is challenging in the deployment of applications, since creating numerous individualized secrets can be tough to perform on a rapid and traceable basis. It is also challenging in the administration, since such secrets must be tracked and potentially refreshed or replaced periodically. These challenges are compounded in dynamic network environments, such as cloud computing environments or continuous deployment workflows, where applications are quickly and often unpredictably being instantiated and utilized. For example, where applications are deployed to meet changes in system load, changes in performance requirements, or changes based on suspected cybersecurity attacks, creating and managing unique secrets for each application can be a daunting problem.
Accordingly, in view of these and other deficiencies in existing techniques, technological solutions are needed for more efficient, flexible, and secure ways of providing secure authentication among different applications (e.g., microservices or other applications). Such solutions should be simple and lightweight, so as not to require undue processing power or time in the creation and management of authentication information. In addition, such solutions should be highly scalable, so that performance and security are not degraded when only a few, or numerous, instances of applications are operating together. Further, it may be advantageous for such solutions to not rely on external, third-parties to perform authentication, since this may lead to performance decreases as well as security vulnerabilities. In addition, it may be advantageous for such solutions to be automatic from the perspective of operations teams, cloud orchestration tools, the applications themselves, and the other applications in the same communications ecosystem.